Driving a whole round without your spotter’s input must feel weird. Dale Earnhardt Jr. faced such a nagging issue on his comeback to the Bristol Xfinity race. Despite starting his day at the peak of his energy and rolling off the 13th spot, the NASCAR Hall of Famer faced multiple issues.

• Swapping helmets
• His team was trying to fix the radio
• Broken glasses
• Then fishing for his radio as well

Ultimately, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came off with a strong finish—he battled with Ryan Truex and ultimately settled for a 7th-place finish. But the infinite struggles he faced on his ride to this conclusion were annoying. Yet it made for a titillating story to share, as Dale Jr. did.

The No. 88 Chevrolet had not seen the light of day for a year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove it last year at the same race, and since then it has sat idle in the race shop. Probably that is why the popular NASCAR icon faced so many issues at the Cheddar’s 300. The radio was broken from the start. “I knew he couldn’t hear me when I was clearing him,” Junior’s spotter, TJ Majors, said. His team swapped his helmet and replaced the wiring harness, and things were okay for a while. But then things went wrong yet again.

After ending the first stage, Dale Earnhardt Jr. declared, “New helmet doesn’t f-king work.” But that was just the tip of the iceberg, as Junior recalled the entire story on his podcast. It turned out that he had lost his radio. “The radio – they fastened it somewhere beside the seat. My elbow kicked that down into the floorboard of the car. Then it turned the volume of the knob, so TJ was not max volume but he was much higher. I was like, ‘Hey…TJ don’t say anything loud.’ I was afraid to grab the cord and start pulling it to get the radio back, it might unplug. So I’m like what do I do? Do I fish for this son of a b-ch or not?”

But even when Dale Earnhardt Jr. found his radio, the battle seemed endless. “Finally, the caution comes out, and I’m pulling this cord up – kinda like fishing without a pole. And finally, here comes the radio…And they’re talking to me, ‘What do you need?’ …And I’m like, ‘Ah, f-k!’ I’m working…Where can I put this damn thing? I tried to mess with the clip, the clip fell off the back of it. There’s no pocket or anywhere to put this…Finally, I stuck it in the water bottle…I set the radio down in there and then we were fine.”

After that long and tiring stint of fencing with his radio, Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped a shocker post-race. He said he would not be back in a couple of years. Part of that is actually true.

The microphone will occupy Dale Jr.

Being a NASCAR veteran with 26 Cup Series wins and 15 consecutive Most Popular Driver awards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is at the forefront of the sport. He hung up his full-time Cup Series firesuit in 2018. Yet his fans crave to see Junior showcase his driving prowess every time an opportunity springs up.

However, Dale Jr. is certain about taking time off the wheel for the next year, having his hands full. He will return to the broadcast booth with Amazon and Turner Sports during their combined 10-race stretch next summer. Yet he did admit that his desire to drive may not go away soon.

Junior explained that his sporadic presence contributes to issues like the radio one at Bristol. “At 50 years old, jump in once run top 10. I know there were some guys named Gant and Allison that were winning races in their fifties, so I know it’s doable. It’s not anything too crazy. But not doing it every week, man, you’re certainly coming here feeling like you’re handicapped and got to drink the fire hose trying to figure out what’s going on and getting up to speed.” But he reassured his fans: “I love it, it was great. I mean, I got everything I wanted out of this and I’ll miss it next year. I’m certain I’ll probably sign up somewhere else trying not to already start thinking about where would I run, where do I wanna run.”

Audio and visibility issues gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. a tough time at Bristol. However, that marked the end of his racing stint for some time now, as he will focus on broadcasting.